Means for sharpening razor blades



Jan. 30, 1934. c PERlOLAT 1,945,201

MEANS FOR SHARPENING RAZOR BLADES Filed May 15, 1930 INVENTOR 'rf x m' Patented Jan. 30, 1934 .ZSTA'TES "PATENT oFaFi-cE :2 Claims.

invention-relates to means for sharpening razor blades, the object of the invention being to provide asimple, inexpensivearid-easily operated "razor blade sharpening means whereby the blades of safety razors can be expeditiously and readily sharpened thereby to prolong the use of the bladesythe principal object of the present improvement" being to provide an improved sharpening means which will'remove the feather edge of the blade and thus prevent the blade from pulling during shaving and irritating the skin.

After a razor blade has been sharpened, what -is'known as the feather edge of the blade must be removed or otherwise during shaving it will pull "and irritate theface. Most of the sharpening devices commonly used merely sharpen the blade but do notremove the feather edge, con- ;sequently .afterafew shaves the blade is thrown away, but by removing the feather edge in a simpleand expeditious manner, the life .of the blade is verymateriallyprolonged. It is well known that the barber in sharpening his razor does this by honing'the:razor.=against the edge, thus removing the feather edge, while the manufacturers of the blade sharpens the blade exactly opposite and consequently the blade is received by the user with the feather edge unremoved and this feather edge is a rough edge. Consequently, unless this edge is removed the blade has a tendency to pull and irritate the face. By means of the present improvement this feather edge is quickly and readily removed thus providing a keener edge and one that will not pull or irritate the face and thus the life of the blade is greatly increased.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a perspective sharpening means.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of a razor blade, its holder and intermediate shim.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the present improvement with the blade assembled in position to be sharpened.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view, line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view similar to Fig. 4, illustrating the manner of holding the device for sharpening the blade.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a somewhat different form of blade, shim and holder, and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view illustrating the manner of using the parts shown in Fig. 6.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

view of this improved taken on the Before explaining .in detail the present.improvement and mode of operation thereotlidesire to have it understoodthatthe inventidnis not limited. to the details of -construction and arrangement of parts which; are illustrateddnthe "6 accompanying drawing, since the invent-ionis ,ca-

pable of other, embodiments, and that the -phrase ology'which I employisfor the purpose of :description and not of limitation.

This improved sharpening means in the :fonn shown comprises a strop 2 whichmayrbe ofrlgid material and provided on one side with anyedge sharpening material 3 and on the other-sida-with an edge finishing material ,4 which maybe in the form of leather or other suitable materiaLwhereby the blade may be sharpened on-one face-, and finished on the opposite face of the strop. This strop isprovided with a guide-orguide-way 5 shown in the present instance as aslot, prefer ably located mid-way and longitudinally of .the .75 strop. Located in this guide-way is.a thumb piece or knob Gshown made up of two .parts '7 and 8 thread connected, whereby it maybe readily positioned in the slot. In practice,howev .er, the knob or thumb piece may be madeas an in- 5 0 tegral structure in which event it could be inserted into the slot by tilting the knob or one end of the slot would be formed circular to permit the ready insertion and withdrawal of the thumb piece which as hereinafter pointed out forms a g5 pressure gauge. The blade holder 9 in the present instance, shown in Fig. 2 comprises the usual blade holding portion of a well known safety razor having the three studs 10, 11 and 12 for projection into similarly located openings of age blade 13. Located on the studs and between the blade and holder is a shim 14 having similar openings to those in the blade.

In applying the blade 13 to the strop 2, it is located on the holder with the shim 14 there- 5 between, the center stud 11 being received by an opening 15 of the thumb piece or knob which acts as a gauge to flex or bend the blade to the shape of the holder when held in thehand in the manner shown in Fig. 5, the shim acting to 1 0 prevent the blade from bending too much and digging into the strop. The shim is made shorter than the blade to be stropped so that the blade can be readily removed without removing the shim and by means of the pressure gauge thumb-1,05 piece the edge of the blade will be raised into proper position to come in contact with the strop. Without this shim the gauge would so flex the blade to conform to the concaved holder that the edges of the blade would dig into the;;l10

stropping surface. It will be obvious that the thickness of the shim will depend upon how high the cutting edge of the blade is to be raised to form perfect contact with the strop.

In practice, the usual handle of a safety razor can be used by screwing it on to the stud 11 so that this handle will thus act as a pressure gauge, but the present form of pressure gauge thumb piece is found preferable since it permits the thumb to rest on top thereof and thus secure the proper pressure. In practice likewise, the stropping device could have a bevelled sharpening surface conforming to the edge of the blade and as heretofore stated the stropping device could be formed of any suitable material.

When the form of blade, shown in Fig. 6, now being manufactured is to be stropped, it is merely necessary to change the shape of the shim to conform to the holder, such form of shim being shown in said Fig. 6, whereby this new style of blade may be sharpened as easily as the old style.

By the present improvement it will be observed that by shifting the blade back and forth on the stropping surface under the proper pressure'exerted by the pressure gauge thumb piece and by means of the shim located between the blade and holder, the blade is flexed the proper amount properly to contact with the stropping surface and thus the blade is sharpened at right angles to its edge, during the longitudinal movement of the blade relative to the strop and practical demonstration has shown that this improved device not only removes the feather edge, 'thus producing a better edge when the blade is new, since the manufacturer usually sends out 'the blade without removing such feather edge,

but the blade can be more efficiently resharpened with the result that in shaving no pulling of the hairs or irritation of the skin results.

It is to be understood that by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the modes of its use, I claim:

1. A razor sharpening device comprising a sharpening strop having a lengthwise extending guide slot, a blade holder having means including a stud forpositioning the blade, said holder constructed for use in shaving, means between the holder and blade for positioning the edges of the blade relative to the strop, a detachable handle slidable on the stud and shiftable in the guide slot and having a thumb engaging portion and co-operating with the blade holder to form gaging means whereby when the holder and handle are held between the thumb and finger, pressure on the blade will be regulated to prevent the digging in of the blade into the strop and also effective to hold the blade on the strop in position to sharpen the blade at right angles to its cutting edge during the shiftable move- -ment of the handle lengthwise of the slot.

2. A razor sharpening device comprising a sharpening strop having a lengthwise extending oo guide slot, a blade holder having means including a stud for positioning the blade, said holder constructed for use in shaving, a shim between the holder and blade for positioning the edges of the blade relative to the strop, a detachable handle slidable on the stud and shiftable in the guide slot and having a thumb engaging portion and co-operating with the blade holder to form gaging means whereby when the holder and handle are held between the thumb and finger, pressure on the blade will be regulated to prevent the digging in of the blade into the strop and also effective to hold the blade onthe strop in position'to sharpen the blade at right angles to its cutting edge during the shiftable movement of the'handle lengthwise of the slot;

CHARLES is. PERIOLAT. l 

